


Responsible

by ultimateslothiraptor



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, POV Third Person, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26268838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultimateslothiraptor/pseuds/ultimateslothiraptor
Summary: Makoto Naegi hadn't meant to drive Sayaka Maizono to suicide. He'd thought he was encouraging her, helping her change her life. He found out too late how wrong he was.Nobody knew it was his fault. Until Byakuya Togami found her suicide note and decided he could use it to his advantage, that is. There's only one way his life won't be ruined: if he listens to Byakuya's request. And it's something he never would've expected.
Relationships: Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 8
Kudos: 200





	1. Control

Makoto Naegi was sick of it. He was sick of the pitying looks, of the whispers in the hallway when he walked by, of the excuses everyone made for him when he missed class or locked himself in his room for days on end. Even though he knew he deserved so much worse than this.

Ever since Sayaka, people had stopped coming over to his room, or even approaching him at all. That was why he was so surprised when, at 10:00 at night, the doorbell rang.

He looked down at himself, hesitant. He hadn't showered in a week. His hair, usually tousled endearingly, was flying out in every direction, and he hadn't bothered to brush his teeth since yesterday. But whoever was on the other side of the door deserved an answer more than Makoto deserved to wallow in his own depression. Patting his hair down in a desperate attempt to look presentable and trying to force a smile, he opened the door to find the last person he had expected. His snobbish classmate, Byakuya Togami.

The taller boy wrinkled his nose at Makoto. "And here I thought it wasn't physically possible for someone to smell worse than Toko." He stepped inside Makoto's room without waiting for an invitation and closed the door behind him.

Makoto looked down, his mind racing. What was Byakuya doing here? He never bothered to interact with anyone, let alone show up at people's doors in the middle of the night. What reason could he possibly have to come to Makoto, of all people?  
"Well then." Byakuya looked around the room disdainfully. "This place is – let's not mince words – a filthy pit, so I'll get to the point. I'm here about Sayaka Maizono's suicide."

Makoto's heart stopped. "What?" he asked, his voice small, vulnerable. This was the first time anyone besides the police or his family had directly approached him about it, even though it was all anyone could see when they looked at him. In some sick way it was refreshing, but it still felt wrong.

Byakuya continued. "As I understand it, though she'll never be quite the same and will require years of physical therapy to function again, she's expected to pull through. However, I doubt that this fact will make anyone more forgiving towards this." He took a slip of paper out of his pocket and showed it to Makoto.

All the blood drained from Makoto's voice. The ground seemed to drop out from underneath him. He was falling, staring off into nothingness. "Where..." he said hoarsely. "Where did you find that?"

He reached for the paper, but Byakuya pulled it away. "Tsk, tsk. You really think I'd let you have this? It is my one piece of leverage in this situation, after all."  
He was right, and Makoto knew that. Because on that paper was something the police had been looking for, something her family had been desperate to find.

Sayaka's suicide note.

Makoto stared at it. The letter explaining exactly why she had jumped. Exactly why it was all Makoto's fault.

_Dear Makoto,_

_Thank you. You've opened my eyes. You've shown me how fake everything is, how impossible my dream is, how futile chasing after it is. You showed me how much happier I could be with you._

_But I can't. I'm a coward. I can't just drop out, throw away my life's dream at the drop of a hat. So I'm taking an easier way out, a more permanent one._

_Don't be sad that I'm gone, okay? Because... I'll always be your assistant, right?_

_Love,_

_Sayaka_

He hadn't meant to do this to Sayaka. He hadn't meant to drive her to this. He'd thought he was helping when she told her about everything she was missing by being a star, thought she would use the information to re-evaluate her life rather than trying to end it. He had been so, so wrong.

A single tear slipped down Makoto's cheek. He'd thought all his tears were gone, that they'd all slipped away. Apparently all his grief still hadn't been enough.

"Oh, stop blubbering like that, will you?"

Makoto wiped his nose and looked up at Byakuya's scowling face. He tried to summon a fearsome glare and failed. "What?"  
"You've read the note," Byakuya continued. "You know full well that it's your own fault Sayaka tried to kill herself. You have no right to your grief."

He knew that already. Byakuya was just the first person to remind him of it. Makoto looked down. "I know..." he said in a small voice. "I know, I just... can't help it."

Byakuya snorted. "Do you have no emotional control? Anyway... tomorrow morning, I am going to post this note on the internet, text it to all your friends. Everyone will know exactly who was responsible for Sayaka's attempted suicide."

Makoto looked up sharply. "No!" he shouted. "I know I deserve it, but please... please don't release it! It would ruin my life! I'm miserable enough as it is, I don't need a constant reminder that all this is my own fault!" He reached for the note, but Byakuya pulled it away again, smirking.

"That is... unless you do something for me."

Makoto's heart sank. "So you're blackmailing me?"

Byakuya tilted his head to the side. "Yes... I thought that was clear."

Whatever it was Byakuya wanted him to do, Makoto wanted no part of it. He didn't know much about Byakuya's life, but knowing him, he'd want him to do something like steal company secrets from a competitor or go undercover at a rival corporation or something. Still... he knew he didn't have a choice. "What do you need?" he asked, bracing himself for the worst.

Byakuya winced, as though what he was about to say physically pained him. "I need you..." He cleared his throat, blushing. "I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend."

Makoto stared. "What?" he asked, unsure if he'd heard correctly.

"You heard what I said!" Byakuya snapped. "I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend so that damn Toko will get off my back. She's been following me around nonstop, calling me Master... it's infuriating. But if I'm dating someone, there's a chance she'll leave me alone. I couldn't exactly walk up to anyone else and just ask them out. I've built up something of a negative reputation amongst my classmates, as you likely know. You're the only one I have any kind of power over, and that's why I chose you."

Makoto continued to stare.

Byakuya rolled his eyes. "What is your problem? Are you that dense? Do you really not understand what I'm asking here?"

Makoto's stare bored through Byakuya's chest.

This was literally the last thing he'd expected to hear. He'd figured that Byakuya would want money or a favor or something, but this... this was out of nowhere.

Finally, he was able to speak. "I didn't know you were gay," he said, and immediately wanted to punch himself in the face. _Stupid Makoto! He probably isn't gay, he just said that he was only doing this so Toko would leave him alone, so stop making assumptions –_

"Neither did I," Byakuya confessed. "It was remarkably hard to figure out. Honestly, I don't see why people make such a big deal about it. It's nothing too revolutionary."

"Oh." Makoto reached out and patted Byakuya's arm, only half-conscious that he was doing it. "Thanks for telling me, man. That means a lot, and I want you to know that I totally support you –"

Byakuya rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I care about your opinion on the matter, you simpleton? Your support means nothing."

"Oh... okay." Makoto was at a loss for words. Then something occurred to him. "Wait, do you actually –"

"Oh my _god_ , you are simple-minded. Make no mistake, I'm not attracted to you in the slightest. You're plain-looking, you're annoying, you're naïve... nothing about you is remotely appealing. You simply happen to be the one person who has a reason to say yes to my request."

 _Oh yeah,_ Makoto thought. He'd been so distracted by the sudden developments that he'd momentarily forgotten about why Byakuya was asking him. "So... if I don't pretend to go out with you, you'll tell the whole school that everything with Sayaka was my fault?"

Byakuya sighed deeply. "Yes. I have made it abundantly clear that this is the situation you are in."

 _Well, it's better than helping with corporate espionage,_ Makoto thought. "Okay then. Let's do it."


	2. Out

Unless you counted his short-lived fling with Sayaka, Makoto didn't have any experience with romantic relationships. It was only natural that he would have some questions. It wasn't so natural that he would pull out a notepad and start writing down important points as they came to mind.

Byakuya looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing, you imbecile?"

"If we're doing this, we're doing this right," Makoto said firmly, scribbling away as he talked. "This can't fall through. I can't have that note go out, so we have to be as convincing as possible."

Byakuya sighed. It was good that he was taking this seriously, but the notepad was a little much. "Relationships really aren't so complicated. All you have to do is build up a feeling of intimacy. Or, in this case, portray an artificial feeling of intimacy."

"Wait." Makoto's pencil came to a stop. "Are we going to have to kiss or something?"

"What the hell did you think being in a fake relationship meant?"

"It's just..." Makoto swallowed. "I don't... know if I'm comfortable with that. I've never kissed anyone before, not even Sayaka, and I want my first kiss to be real."

"Well then, you probably shouldn't have driven her to suicide."

"Hey!" Tears were brimming in Makoto's eyes. "I didn't... I didn't mean to..."

The other boy was getting more annoyed by the minute. "Save your whining. You agreed to this, didn't you? It's your own fault if you can't handle what it entails."

He was right. Makoto knew he was right, but... it still felt wrong. He'd always imagined what his first kiss would be like, with the perfect girl in the perfect setting. Now it was going to be with a strange boy who hated his guts, and Makoto didn't think he was ready for the sudden change.

"Oh, relax, will you?" Byakuya's scathing voice pulled Makoto out of his thoughts. "I won't make you kiss me right away. Frankly, I find the idea repulsive. We can start by... I don't know... holding hands in the hallway or something."

Makoto relaxed a bit. "Okay. That's a good start."

"But first," Byakuya said, heading for the door, "there's something else we need to do. We need to let Toko know. That is the whole point, after all."

"Wait," Makoto said, cutting him off. "If that's it, then... can't we just pretend to break up right away? Once she has proof you're gay, won't that make her back off?"

"I don't know," Byakuya said grimly. "And even if she buys it... I hate to admit it, but that filthy pig is smart. If we break up immediately, she might realize that we're deceiving her."

Things were starting to make sense to Makoto now. "Okay... so we'll just pretend to date for a few weeks, and then we can 'break up' and everything will go back to normal."

"Finally you understand. I was afraid I would have to draw you a diagram. Now come on. Let's get this over with already."

Byakuya opened the door to see Toko Fukawa standing inches away from him. "W-why were you in Makoto's room?" she asked, sounding almost panicked. "What, are you two p-plotting something? Did Makoto tell you how u-ugly and disgusting I am and that you should never date me?"

"I didn't need him to tell me that," Byakuya said dismissively. Before Toko could start reveling in the insults, Byakuya put his hand on her shoulder, making her gasp. "Listen. There's something I have to tell you."

"Yes!" Toko whimpered. "The day has come that Master finally decides to go out with me! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you –"

Makoto poked Byakuya, making him turn around. "What?" he snapped.

"It's just..." Makoto whispered, fidgeting. "I feel kind of bad for her. I mean, obviously she's got some kind of problem, but... I mean, just look at her. You can't break her heart like this."

"Watch me." Byakuya turned back around to see Toko watching them suspiciously. "Toko, why would I ever go out with you? You're ugly, you smell, you're disgusting, the sight of you makes me sick. No, I wanted to tell you that I'm going out with him." He pointed to Makoto, who turned red and tried to hide inside his hoodie.

Every emotion that it was possible for a human to experience made its way across Toko's face. Eventually it landed on betrayal. "Makoto..." she whispered. "How could you? D-do you really hate me that much, to turn Master gay?"

"...hi," Makoto whispered back, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh, for the love of God." Byakuya grabbed Toko by the shoulders and pulled her in close. "Nobody turned me gay, and you should know that's not possible, you ignorant, selfish, stupid woman. This is why no one will ever love you."

Makoto braced himself, expecting some kind of psychotic outburst. Instead, Toko just looked... sad, and alone. "Oh," she said quietly. "I... I'm sorry. Well... I guess if you're gay, there's no way you could ever love me, so... goodbye, Master." Head hung, she walked down the hallway back to her own room.

Byakuya shook his head. "Such a simple woman," he muttered. He turned to Makoto, who was looking on in confusion and guilt. "Oh, relax. The worst of it is over. Now all we have to do is fake a relationship for a few weeks." He smiled. "This turned out better than I could've imagined."

"See, I feel bad," Makoto said defensively. "You just destroyed that poor girl, for what? For liking you? You're pretty mean, Byakuya."

Byakuya laughed. "And when have I ever claimed to be otherwise? Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some business matters to take care of." He walked out of the room, but paused before closing the door.

"I suppose it's nice that you're so caring. I truly wonder what it would be like to have that luxury. Still, it makes you incredibly easy to manipulate. If I were you, I would banish your kindness as soon as possible.

With that somewhat backhanded compliment, he closed the door, leaving Makoto alone, upset and overwhelmed.

They thought that would be the end of it. They should've known better. Toko would get over it, would find someone else to love and obsess over. They had forgotten that there was another person who would be none too pleased about these developments. Someone with an inclination towards murder.


	3. Jack

Makoto slowly opened his eyes. He was in a dark room, one he didn't recognize. Dusty air illuminated by a single ray of light shining through a high window drifted past him. _What the hell?_

He tried to move and found that he couldn't. He was sitting in a wooden chair in some kind of basement. Tied up. _Seriously, what the hell??_

"Ooh, you're awake!" A familiar cackle echoed from the corner, and a familiar shape emerged. _Genocide Jack? Why would she... oh. OH._

The events of yesterday came crashing back into his memory. _Of course..._ He winced. _How did I not see this coming? Toko might be over it, but there's no way Genocide Jack would take this lying down!_

"When I heard that Master dumped me for you," Toko's alternate persona continued, "I thought he'd gone totally cuckoo bananas! But looking at you now..." She leaned in close, her abnormally long tongue stretching out to lick her lips. "Yes... you're a very cute boy when you're all tied up like that."

 _Oh... no._ Makoto saw where this was going. Toko's dominant personality might be content just to fawn over cute boys, but this one had an unfortunate tendency towards murdering them. The reality that he was about to die kicked in, and he started screaming, kicking at the ropes binding his feet. More on instinct than anything else. He was already resigned to the fact. Knowing that he deserved it.

"Ooh, struggle more for me! Kyahahahaha!" Genocide Jack leaned back, gripping her sides as she was overcome with laughter. "You know that just gets me so damn fired up!"

She leaned in again, a pair of scissors glinting in her hand. "You know, I wouldn't tie up just anyone. Not my style. Scissor suspension is usually the only way I restrain my victims. But for the boy that stole Master away from me?" She let out a long, low chuckle that Makoto had never heard before, one that was somehow more unsettling than her usual unhinged cackles. "Ohoho, you deserve some special treatment before I cut you into pieces."

Genocide Jack leaned away from him, holding a pair of scissors outstretched. "Get ready for some pain, Big Mac!" she shouted, and lunged forward. Makoto closed his eyes.

Byakuya looked at his watch impatiently. Makoto had agreed to meet him in his room that morning, and now he was two hours late. _That idiot. Doesn't he know we have to be seen together as a couple if we want to pull this off?_

Just as he was resigning himself to checking on Makoto and making sure he hadn't overslept, his doorbell rang. "Finally," he said aloud, standing up and stretching before walking to the door.

"Master!" Toko shoved the door open the moment Byakuya turned the handle, knocking him down. She rushed in, wringing her hands with worry. "I think I killed Makoto."  
Byakuya stared at her. "What."

"I didn't mean to!" she shouted. "I mean, if you really are gay, I'm okay with you dating him instead of me. But then... _she_ came out, and when she heard what you did... I'm so sorry! I'll control her better next time, I promise!"

He was on his feet, grabbing her by the collar. "Where is he," he said in a low voice, not asking but demanding.

"U-um..." Toko pointed vaguely behind her. "When I woke up I was in the basement of an old storage facility. I came as quick as I could, but... I think it might be too late."

_No!_

A voice inside Byakuya, maybe his conscience, spoke up. _No, that idiot simpleton can't be dead. I... I was just talking to him yesterday, and..._

His grip on Toko's collar tightened. "Take me to him. Now."

She nodded vigorously. "Okay, Master." She sped down the hall with a determined urgency he'd never seen from her before. "Get in my car. It'll be faster that way."

Toko spent so much time fawning over him that it was easy to forget she was a competent human who knew how to drive, Byakuya thought distractedly as he followed her down the hall. That wasn't what was important, though. What was important was that he was concerned – genuinely _concerned_ – about Makoto.

He'd seen pictures of gruesome murders. He'd gone over murdering Toko a million different ways in his head. The concept of death had never bothered him before now. So why was he so worried about Makoto?

 _Don't tell me I've actually started to care about that moron_ , he thought in disgust. _He's just a tool to use to stop Toko from continuing to obsess over me. In fact, it's better if he ends up dead. We won't have to continue this charade, and I can play the part of a bereaved lover instead of a lovestruck fool._

But there was something different about Makoto. They rarely talked, and yet Byakuya had known exactly who he was almost since he'd met him. Before Sayaka, he had always projected this aura of happiness and hope, something that made you smile just looking at him. The thought that this boy, who never stopped trying to look for the silver lining in a hopeless situation, who had tried to befriend _him_ even after countless attempts to push him away, could wind up dead... it made Byakuya sick.

Before he knew it he had broken into a run, chasing Toko into the school's parking lot, praying that he wasn't too late.


	4. Memories

Makoto opened his eyes slowly. What had happened to him? He had been in a basement somewhere, and Genocide Jack was there, and... it was easy to piece together what had happened from there. That explained why every part of his body was faintly screaming from behind a buzz of painkillers.

"Hm. About time you woke up," a smug voice Makoto recognized instantly said. "What kind of an idiot would get kidnapped so easily like that?"

He blinked, then smiled. "Hi, Byakuya. Thanks for checking on me. I guess Genocide Jack hurt me pretty bad, huh?"

"Yes. It seems as though she wanted to kill you but would rather you suffered first, so she tortured you with her scissors for a bit but reverted back to Toko before she could finish you off." He shook his head. "If I had been in your position, I would've been able to escape instantly. I can't imagine what you were doing."

"Um..." Makoto's smile turned sheepish. "A lot of kicking and screaming, I think. Just your standard kidnapped-guy stuff." He looked around, and the smile dropped off his face. "Wait. Is this..."

Byakuya finished his thought. "This is the hospital currently holding Sayaka Maizono, yes. Don't look so surprised; you live in the same area and Sayaka didn't require any kind of specialized treatment, so there's no reason you wouldn't end up in the same hospital."

 _Oh... yeah. That makes sense._ Makoto relaxed a bit, but tensed up immediately as Byakuya propped his elbows on his bedside table, looking him directly in the eye. "I must admit I'm curious... why did you do it? Why would you drive that girl to suicide?"

"I..." Makoto didn't know how to respond to that. "I didn't mean to. She just seemed lonely, and I thought I'd show her all the stuff she could do if she weren't an idol. I never thought..."

"But you did," Byakuya said. "When she realized how much of her life she'd completely missed out on and how hollow her current life was in comparison, she decided that she would be better off ending it all than continuing to live an empty existence. Isn't that right?"

 _Don't cry, damn it, don't cry. You've already cried too much._ Makoto swallowed hard. "I... I never thought she'd see it that way. I just wanted to show her something new and let her experience something she hadn't gotten to before. I didn't mean to..."

His attempts to stop himself from crying failed, and tears started streaming down his face, one after the other. Soon enough he was all-out bawling. "She told me how hard her own life was," he ranted, "and I just thought she'd like it if I let her experience a few days of normal life."

Byakuya snorted. "Is that really it? What a simple thing to drive someone so far. Still, I suppose you can't be blamed for it, even if it is technically your fault."

That comment hit Makoto out of nowhere. "Wait... what? You're saying... you don't blame me?"

"That's literally what I just said."

The tears running down Makoto's cheeks didn't cease, but now they were tears of relief. "Thank you," he choked out. "I needed to hear that." He reached out for Byakuya's hand, which Byakuya pulled back in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing?" the taller boy demanded. "Get away from me."

Makoto smiled. "I thought you wanted us to be seen as a couple, silly. I'm trying to hold your hand."

This was part of the plan. Byakuya had known they would need to do things like this. So why was he so flustered? "There's no one here," he pointed out in a desperate attempt to escape the situation."

"Still..." Byakuya's hand had come to a rest on the beside table he'd been leaning against, and Makoto reached out and grabbed it. "You have no idea how much that means to me."  
Byakuya blushed furiously. "What? I was simply stating a fact." He tilted his head to the side, suddenly thinking of a way to change the subject. "What exactly did you do with Sayaka?"

"I took her on vacation," Makoto said, wiping his eyes. "We spent three days out on Cape Cod, hanging out by the beach. She was having such a good time. She said this was the first time she'd felt that kind of happiness in a while." A distant look came into his eyes. "I guess that's why she started questioning her life, huh?"

"Obviously."

"Yeah..."

Realizing that Makoto still hadn't let go of his hand, Byakuya pulled it away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some things of actual consequence to attend to." He walked out of the room briskly before Makoto could respond, wondering why holding hands with Makoto had been so nerve-wracking, not realizing why Makoto was so special, not realizing that he had already started to fall for him.


	5. Acceptance

Makoto Naegi was a nice person. He did his best to be, anyway. He liked to think that he was friends with everyone, that he didn't really have any enemies, or at least the ones he did have would like him if they got to know him. Soon he would realize how wrong he was – but not just yet. For now he would be surrounded by all the love and support he could ask for.

Thankfully, his injuries hadn't been too serious – Toko had reverted to her non-murderous personality before she could inflict any major damage – so he was able to go back to school after just a few days in the hospital, whether he was prepared for it or not. Things had been so chaotic that he'd almost forgotten about his fake relationship with Byakuya – that is, until his father poked his head into his room and said curiously, "Makoto? There's a boy here to see you. Tall kid, wears glasses, rich-looking?"

"Oh, yeah." Makoto looked away, blushing. He'd somehow managed to avoid telling his parents about Byakuya up until now. "He's... he's my boyfriend."

"Oh." His father blinked. "Well, that's unexpected. Um, I think he wants to walk you to school. Should I tell him to go away, or...?"

"It's fine, Dad! I'm coming!" Still blushing, Makoto grabbed his backpack and ran out of the room. _I probably should've prepared for that, or at least given them a heads up. Too late to do anything about it now, I guess, but... still super awkward._

His sister Komaru poked her head around the corner of the hallway as he was about to head out the door. "Oh, Makoto, you got a boyfriend?" She giggled. "I _knew_ it! So, what's he like?"

Before he knew it his entire family had converged in the living room. "What's this I hear about a boyfriend?" his mother asked, smiling gently. "Honey, I just want you to know that we support you no matter what, and –"

"That's _enough,_ guys!" It was sweet that they were being so supportive, but it was still an uncomfortable situation. Makoto slipped his shoes on, opened the door, grabbed Byakuya's hand, and took off running. He looked back. "Okay, I think we lost... SHIT."

Komaru was chasing them down the block.

"What the hell is happening?" Byakuya demanded, his face red. "Let go of my hand this instant."

"No time!" Makoto tugged at Byakuya's arm. When he didn't budge, Makoto grabbed his arm with both his hands and started dragging him down the sidewalk. Meanwhile, Komaru was still in hot pursuit.

"Is that your boyfriend?" she shouted loudly enough for everyone on the block to hear. "You've got some good taste, Makoto! I'm surprised!"

"Go to school already, Komaru! You're going to be late! This is none of your business anyway!" Makoto yelled back, still trying to uproot Byakuya from the sidewalk.

Realizing how ridiculous the two of them must look, Byakuya finally moved, joining Makoto in a sprint to Hope's Peak. When they finally looked back, Komaru was long gone.

"Your sister," Byakuya said through gasps for air, "is absolutely unhinged."

"I _know_ , right? My worst mistake was giving her my yearbook. She's started shipping me with everyone in our class.

They grinned at each other, and Makoto was surprised to see that Byakuya's smile looked almost genuine. "This is the happiest you've looked since I've known you," he said.

"Pfft." The smile dropped off Byakuya's face, replaced with his trademark scowl. "Do I look like I have time to be happy?"

 _That doesn't even make sense,_ Makoto thought. Still, it was good to see that Byakuya was opening up to him a little bit. Even if they weren't really dating, Makoto still wanted to be his friend.  
"Well," Byakuya said, pushing up his glasses, "have you had enough of your foolishness, or must we delay even further?"

"Hey, it's not my fault my sister is a lunatic."

They walked into the school together and were immediately met by stares and whispers. To Makoto it was his usual routine. Byakuya, on the other hand...

He leaned down to whisper in Makoto's ear. "Why are all these commoners gawking at us?"  
"I guess word got out about our 'relationship,'" Makoto whispered back. "Either that or it's just the usual weird looks I've been getting ever since Sayaka..."

Byakuya sniffed haughtily. "While I am used to drawing attention from the majority of the populous, it wouldn't make much sense for it to suddenly start now. You're likely right."

"Hey, Makoto!" It was Aoi Asahina, jogging up to them with a massive grin on her face. "I heard you two started going out. Good for you! And don't worry, if anyone makes fun of you I'll get Sakura to beat them up!" She giggled.

"Oh my God," Byakuya muttered.

"Hey!" Aoi spun around to face him. "Just 'cause you're dating my friend doesn't mean you're off the hook, mister. I still don't like you!"

"Perfect. The feeling is mutual."

"Hey!" She glared at him, trying to make her soft, adorable face appear forceful. "You know, you'd be more popular if you tried not to be such a mean guy all the time."

Their argument continued, Makoto caught in the middle desperately trying to keep the peace. Eventually they arrived at their homeroom. Byakuya reached for the door handle, but before he could turn it, Aoi put her hand over his. "Look," she said hesitantly, "I'm totally cool with you guys, but I'm not sure how everyone else is going to take this. You should stay on your guard."

"Believe me," Byakuya said darkly, "I've faced worse."

Makoto nodded. "Yeah... in a way it'll be a relief. I'm sick of getting pitied."

Despite their attempts to reassure themselves that they were ready, they didn't want to believe anything that would happen. Makoto trusted his classmates unconditionally, and Byakuya, despite his low opinion of them, thought even they would be above mocking the two of them. They underestimated just how cruel teenagers could be, and how the words of others could change a relationship forever.


	6. Cruelty

All eyes were on them the moment they opened the door. Makoto wished he could blame them. Mondo and Taka were obviously dating but hadn't come out yet, and Aoi's crush on Sakura was painfully evident, but other than that, they were the only gay couple in the class – hell, probably in all of Hope's Peak. Of course people were going to talk.

Makoto's face was on fire. He was used to being stared at these days, but those looks were ones of pity. These were intense, probing. Like everyone in the room was trying to figure him out.

Byakuya put a hand on Makoto's shoulder, and he flinched. He turned around and braced for some kind of beratement, like it was somehow his fault that everyone was looking at them like they were aliens. That would be just like him...

"Whatever they say, ignore them. They're just lowly fools. Their opinions don't matter."

Makoto blinked. "Uh, yeah. Thanks!"

"Well, well, well. The queers have arrived."

The two of them stiffened. The voice was obnoxious, nasally. They knew instantly who it belonged to. Hifumi Yamada.

"I didn't think you'd show up at school today," he continued, standing up from his desk and pacing around the room. "Thought you'd be too busy gaying each other. You know, it's homos like you that ruin love for the rest of us!"

Aoi was trembling with anger. "Just say the word, Makoto," she said through gritted teeth. "I'll send this idiot to kingdom come!"  
"I..." Makoto cleared his throat. Tears had begun to well up in his eyes. "It's fine. Let's just ignore him."

"Ah, a tactical retreat? Most wise, given your current position." Celestia Ludenburg spoke up, poised as ever. "However, I must agree with Hifumi. You two are simply... unnatural."

Makoto closed his eyes. He had been afraid this would happen but hadn't wanted to believe it. Everyone was turning against them. It was all over...

Then he heard footsteps. Byakuya, slowly striding over to Celeste, towering over her. "Don't you dare talk about us that way, you filthy creature," he growled. "Makoto may just be another idiot commoner, but he's leagues above moronic bigots such as yourself."

Celeste looked down, scared, regretful. Byakuya nodded and began to walk away.

If the room hadn't been deathly quiet no one would've been able to hear it. But as Byakuya took his seat, Celeste lifted her head and muttered one word under her breath. Not even a word, a slur, one too extreme to write here.

Byakuya turned around slowly. The room was silent. All eyes were focused on the drama in front of them. "What did you say."

All traces of fear (fabricated, Makoto realized in retrospect) had left Celeste's face. She was as calm and composed as ever. "Did you not hear me?" she asked politely. "Would you like me to repeat it? Or do you need no more reminder of who the filthy creatures in this room really are?"

"No, that's wrong!"

Makoto had stepped forward, pointing a finger accusingly. "Byakuya was just trying to stick up for me. He might act kind of mean, but he's a good person. Who cares that we're both boys? We love each other, and you're not gonna stop us!"

He hadn't meant to say that. He hadn't meant to say anything at all. But when he saw Byakuya, his classmate, his _friend_ , getting harassed like that, he couldn't help stepping in.

Celeste chuckled. "My, my. So persistent, this one. Shall we put it to a vote?"

It was only upon looking around the room that she realized she had made a fatal miscalculation. Fearsome anger radiated off every student except Hiro, who was too stoned to care about the situation. Even the mild-mannered Chihiro looked aggressive. Aggression directed at her.

"Oh dear," she said simply. _I'm fucked,_ she thought.

There was an anticlimactic squeaking sound as Mondo slowly pushed back his chair and walked toward Hifumi. "Celeste," he growled, not taking his eyes off the manga artist, "I ain't got it in me to hit a girl. But you can sure as hell bet I'll fuck up your little piggy real bad if you say one more word."

"Halt! I cannot condone violence!" Taka stood up as well, pointing at Mondo. "However... Celeste, Hifumi, if you keep this up I will be forced to report you to the headmaster! Harmful speech such as this is absolutely not welcome in a school environment!"

Mondo relaxed a little. "Seriously, bro? Can't I just rough him up a little bit?"

"Absolutely not!" Taka shouted. "No matter how much respect we may have lost for our classmates on this day, we will not stoop to their level by engaging in physical violence."

For a second it looked like Mondo was going to lunge at Hifumi anyway. Then his shoulders slumped. "Fine. I guess if you're gonna report 'em anyway, it's fine."

"Hey." Taka put a hand on Mondo's shoulder. "Thank you for attempting to help, in your own way."

"No problem, bro."

They gazed into each others' eyes.

"Is it just me," Hiro spoke up from the corner, "or did it just get like a thousand times more gay in here?"

Celeste giggled. "Yes, it would appear..." She silenced herself when she realized that the angry eyes of her classmates had once again directed themselves at her.

"You guys... everyone..." Makoto's eyes were welling up with tears again, but not out of sadness or shock this time. Just out of sheer relief that his friends had stood up for them. "Thank you."

Aoi clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You know we've always got your back, Makoto! And you too, Byakuya, I guess."

Byakuya slumped into his seat. "I couldn't care less about any of this. Could we please just begin class? Where is our teacher, anyway?"

The rest of the day passed by normally – well, as close to normal as it could be. Hifumi and Celeste shot them the occasional dirty look, but other than that, things were just like they'd always been. Before their relationship, even before Sayaka. Makoto was relieved, and happy. For the first time in ages, he felt happy.

The last bell rang, and Makoto stood up to gather his things. As he did so, he noticed Celeste watching him. "What is it?" he asked, bracing himself for more slurs and cruel comments.

"I wanted... to apologize," she said with a sigh.

Makoto blinked. "Huh? That doesn't seem like you."  
"Everything I said was a lie. I cannot speak for Hifumi, but personally, I have been wanting to take Byakuya down a peg for a while now to help my own advancement on the metaphorical social ladder, and this was the only way I could see to get under his skin," she confessed. "I do apologize for getting you caught in the crossfire."

Thinking about it... yeah, that made a lot more sense. Celeste was a lot of things, but ignorant wasn't one of them. "It's fine," Makoto said with a smile. "If that's it, then it's okay. I understand."

Celeste giggled. "Oh, Makoto Naegi. You are far too naïve. If you remain this forgiving, who knows what will become of you."

On that ominous note, she turned around and walked out of the classroom, leaving behind Makoto, confused and slightly upset.

That feeling wouldn't last, though, because Byakuya stepped back into the classroom. "I've overestimated you yet again," he sighed. "Forgive me for assuming you would join me to walk home. I suppose I believed you were –"

Makoto ran forward and wrapped his arms around Byakuya.

"What the hell are you doing?" he exclaimed, his face red. "Get off me!"

"Thank you," Makoto said, leaning his head against the taller boy's chest. "Thanks for sticking up for me. You're nicer than I thought."

"W-well..." For what might have been the first time in his life, Byakuya was at a loss for words. "I was defending myself, you idiot. You just happened to be involved."

Makoto grinned. "That's not how I remember it. You insulted me a little bit, but then you said I was so far above people like Celeste. And... you said us."

"What?"

"You said us," Makoto repeated. "Don't you dare talk about _us_ like that. Not _me_ , _us_. You went out of your way to defend me. So... thank you."

Hesitantly, Byakuya reached his arms around Makoto, hugging him back. "If you're getting hung up on things like that," he said, trying to keep a sudden wave of emotions in check, "you're never going to make it in the real world."

But he stayed standing there, embracing Makoto, feeling the warmth of his body against his own. And when they finally broke away, and Makoto held out his hand, Byakuya took it.

Teenagers are cruel. Teenagers against someone different from them are ruthless. But sometimes, the cruelty of some can unite their targets, creating an unbreakable bond, solidifying their relationship, and in that way changing it forever.


	7. Fun

Makoto didn't have very much experience with dating. His only relationship had been with Sayaka, and, well... that didn't exactly turn out great. But his fake relationship with Byakuya was going well so far. In fact, despite Byakuya's standoffish attitude and Makoto's lack of experience, it was almost fun.

Their 'dates' mostly consisted of Makoto tagging along to various libraries as he searched for different types of highly classified information. Makoto mostly slept through those. Once or twice Byakuya would point out something interesting in a grisly murder investigation or explain an elaborate loophole that had gotten a convicted killer off the hook, and that was kind of cool, but for the most part Makoto didn't really know what he was doing there.

He had mentioned this to Byakuya once but had gotten completely brushed off. "The point of this," he'd said icily, "is to be seen together in public, not to have fun. If I absolutely have to date someone like you, I'm at least going to get some work done while I'm at it."

Makoto respectfully disagreed. "You work way too much already. If you have to date 'someone like me', why not try to have some fun with it?"

Byakuya shook his head in disgust. "A simpleton like you could never understand. The world is a cruel place, Makoto. If you stop moving for even one second, you slip, and someone else takes your place."

In a way Makoto knew what he meant. He'd never really excelled at anything, but even trying to keep average grades got exhausting sometimes. If he didn't give it every effort he'd end up at the bottom of the class. Still... "That doesn't mean you're not allowed to take a break every once in a while! Next time we go out, I'm taking you somewhere fun."

Byakuya opened his mouth, and Makoto suddenly remembered the situation they were in. _He's going to tell me that I have no right to boss him around, not when he has all the power. He's going to threaten to release the note or something..._

But he didn't. He just sighed. "Well, I suppose there's no avoiding it. Now then, what day should I be dreading exactly?"

Meeting up for their dates was a bit tricky. Makoto couldn't pick Byakuya up at his house because he hadn't come out to his parents, and Byakuya couldn't pick Makoto up at his house because Komaru would hound both of them incessantly. On school days they could just walk together instead of going home, but on weekends they had to arrange a rendezvous point, and Makoto was always late, usually because he had to shake off Komaru and make sure she wasn't tailing him before meeting up.

"Why are you so afraid of your younger sister?" Byakuya had asked once. "She is deeply annoying, but she appears harmless."

Makoto had shaken his head. "Trust me. Being at home with her since she found out about you is a living hell. Just question after question about what's he like and are you his first and have you two boned yet."

"Ugh. No need to be so vulgar."

"Her words!" Makoto protested. "Anyway, she feeds off our interactions. I don't want to know what she'd become if she managed to stalk me to one of our dates."

That day, though, Makoto showed up early, looking much more excited than usual. His grin stretched ear to ear, and he looked so innocent and earnest that Byakuya almost smiled back. "So," he said, composing himself, "what torture do you have planned for us today?"

Makoto held up two tickets. "So there's this island that's all one big theme park. I think it's part of Jabberwock Island or something."

Byakuya buried his face in his hands. "No... dear God, no..."

"I got us passes!" Makoto continued, undeterred by Byakuya's lack of enthusiasm. "A full day for each of us, and I brought along a hundred dollars for food because I know it's really expensive."

Byakuya stared. He was almost afraid to ask, but... "How much did this cost you?"

"Like two hundred dollars," Makoto said brightly. "I got a part time job a little while ago and I've been saving up, and I figured this was a good time to use it."

Two hundred dollars... it was a laughable amount to Byakuya, but to a boy like Makoto who wasn't used to being able to spend as much money as he wanted, it was a small fortune. And he had chosen to spend all that money for one day out with his fake boyfriend.

Something spoke up inside Byakuya, a little voice he'd never heard before. His conscience, probably. _Damn. I've tried so hard not to develop one of those._ It pained him a little to do this, but...

Byakuya dug inside his wallet and pulled out three hundred dollar bills. Makoto's eyes widened when he saw it. "Woah... you just carry that around with you?"

"Naturally," Byakuya said airily. "Such a meager amount means nothing to me. But for you I suspect it'd take weeks to earn even this, and since you've chosen to so foolishly waste it, I can't help but pity you." He tucked the money back into his wallet. "I'll give this to you at the end of the day. No doubt you'd lose it in an instant if I gave it to you now."  
Makoto was about to insist on paying for everything himself. Then he remembered that Byakuya was filthy rich and felt a little less guilty. "Are you sure?"

"Don't make me repeat myself. Like I said, I can't help but pity you for throwing away your limited funds on such a foolish endeavor."

He had meant for the comment to be sharp, betraying none of the genuine gratitude he felt toward Makoto. Apparently it hadn't come across that way, though, because Makoto's smile widened. "You're the best, Byakuya! Thank you!"

"Will you shop showering me with compliments?" Byakuya turned away so Makoto wouldn't see him blush. "It's pathetic."

Makoto reached out his hand, and almost unconsciously, Byakuya took it. _Amazing,_ Makoto thought. _Two weeks ago he would've started blushing uncontrollably. Now he's fine with it._

He shook off that revelation and looked at Byakuya, still smiling. "Come on," he said, tugging on his hand. "It's gonna be awesome."

And it was. Byakuya hadn't expected it, but he actually started to enjoy himself. He wasn't used to being allowed this kind of pointless indulgence, and he'd had no idea how much fun not having to worry about anything could be. He pretended to be annoyed by Makoto's nonstop enthusiasm, dragging him on ride after ride, but really, he felt more alive than he had in a long time. All thanks to Makoto.

Night fell, and the two of them walked out of the park, preparing to take a boat back to the mainland. "So?" Makoto asked, his smile just as wide as it had been when they'd started despite hours of nonstop walking and waiting in line. "Fun, right?"

Byakuya looked away. "I suppose it was... bearable. A fitting excuse for wasting so much of my precious time, I suppose."  
Makoto's face lit up, somehow becoming even brighter than it already was. "I knew it! I'm so glad you had fun, Byakuya. Let's do it again sometime."

 _Again? Why would anyone want to engage in such a pointless waste of time twice?_ But looking into Makoto's eyes, so full of enthusiasm and life, he couldn't bring himself to say no.

"...Okay."

Makoto tilted his head. "Really? That's it? No insults, no grumbling?"

"Oh, will you shut up? It simply shows how resigned I've become to your company, that's all."

He tried to show as little emotion as he could, but inside he was thrilled. Because for the first time, he had found someone he enjoyed spending time with.

Because for the first time, he had fallen in love with someone.


	8. Recovery

At 3:00 in the morning, Byakuya Togami's phone rang.

Ordinarily he wouldn't pick up. Something as trivial as a phone call wasn't nearly as important as making sure he could function the next morning. But he hardly gave his personal cell phone number out to anyone, and he couldn't imagine who would need to get in touch with him at this hour. He picked up the phone to hear Makoto's voice, panicked.

"How did you get this number?" Byakuya demanded. Despite having pretended to date him for weeks, the only number for Byakuya that Makoto had was his business number.

"You need to come quick." Makoto was clearly upset, but he was keeping himself under control. That was how Byakuya knew something was wrong. Normally that idiot was a walking waterfall who couldn't keep his emotions in check if his life depended on it. "It's Sayaka. She's awake. And I got your number from the school, by the way, which you should've guessed."

Byakuya lay back in bed, feeling inexplicably relieved. "So you're okay. Next time, preface with your actual news. I was beginning to feel a modicum of concern for you."

"Just shut up and get over here!"  
Byakuya was taken aback by the forcefulness in the boy's voice. "Why should I come, exactly? I have no obligation to that girl."

"I... I need you here, okay?"

That was the last thing Byakuya had expected to hear. "You _what?_ Don't say such ridiculous nonsense."

"You're the only one I can talk to about this," Makoto said, sounding like he was barely holding back tears. "You're the only one who knows what really happened. And I... I need you. I need someone who understands."

 _What sentimental garbage is this? He needs me? Give me a break. He can find someone else to cry on the shoulder of._ That was what he'd think if it were anyone else, but since it was Makoto...

"It's the same hospital you wound up in after the incident with Toko, correct? I'll be there in ten minutes." He hung up before Makoto could reply and stared at the phone in his hand.

Why did he care whether that loser got emotional support or not? Why would he voluntarily disrupt his sleep cycle to do something so trivial, so meaningless, for someone else?

No. He didn't have time to question it. If he really wanted to get to the hospital in ten minutes, he would need to hurry.

When he arrived, Makoto was pacing around the waiting room, looking anxious, like he hadn't slept in weeks. The moment he saw Byakuya he ran over and embraced him. "I'm so glad you came."

"Yes..." Byakuya tried to pry Makoto away. The physical affection was touching, but he was too worried about Makoto to appreciate it. "Is this really that important? It's not as though you're carrying her life in your hands."

Makoto looked up at him, tears in his eyes. "Yeah, but... I need to know if she forgives me."

"She was the one who did this, not you. You may have inspired her actions, but you never had any malicious intent. Besides, this was what she wanted, was it not?"

Makoto shook his head. "You don't understand. Because she failed she'll need years of physical therapy. Her life as an idol is completely ruined. I destroyed her, and now she has to live with it forever." He buried his face in Byakuya's chest again. "I ruined her entire life..."

"Did you even hear me?" Byakuya snapped. "You had no ill will towards Sayaka. Thus, her actions are entirely on her shoulders for misinterpreting your words. If Sayaka doesn't forgive you, she's a fool."

"Okay..." Makoto pulled away. "I know you're just trying to make me feel better, but you really shouldn't put this on Sayaka. But... thanks anyway." He forced a smile. "You know, you're a really nice guy."

"Shut up, peasant."

The two of them sat down in the waiting room, Makoto looking around anxiously, Byakuya checking his watch every thirty seconds. Minutes passed, then hours. Makoto's yawns started getting more frequent. Every time he tried to close his eyes, though, he shook himself awake.

"What are you doing?" Byakuya demanded the third time he noticed it. "If you can sleep, there's absolutely no reason for you not to."

Makoto slapped himself in the face. "No... I have to be awake when they call us back. I can't let myself take a nap. Sayaka doesn't deserve that."

Byakuya looked at his watch again. It was six in the morning. "Oh, for god's sake," he muttered. "Makoto, there's no point in torturing yourself. You may just be a simple commoner, but you at least deserve the luxury of a few hours sleep."

"But after what I did to Sayaka –"

"Oh, shut up about that!" Byakuya couldn't take Makoto's self-hatred anymore. "You did absolutely nothing wrong, do you hear me? Absolutely nothing. You're a good person. Insufferably good, really. You're kind and forgiving, you're blissfully ignorant to the flaws of others, and you always do your best to help everyone you meet. You deserve so much more than what you're putting yourself through."

Byakuya couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. What was he saying? He'd never shown this level of affection to his parents, let alone a mere classmate. But somehow, he knew he was saying the right thing.

He looked at Makoto, whose eyes were already starting to close. "You... you really are nice, Byakuya..."

Makoto leaned his head against Byakuya's shoulder and fell asleep instantly.

"Idiot," Byakuya muttered. He thought about shoving Makoto off of him, but no – if he'd meant anything he'd said, he would let him rest. Besides, looking down at Makoto's face, peaceful for the first time since he'd arrived... Byakuya couldn't bring himself to disturb that.

Besides, it felt nice. Knowing that Makoto trusted him enough to let his guard down so completely. Feeling his weight as a nonstop confirmation that he wasn't alone.

_I'm not alone..._

For some reason, tears pricked the corners of Byakuya's eyes. He blinked them away. What was he _doing?_ This kind of behavior was completely unlike him, and in a public place, no less. He couldn't explain why Makoto being by his side provoked so many emotions. He couldn't explain why every time he looked at the smaller boy his heart melted.

Byakuya sat, feeling the comfortable warmth of Makoto's body against him, and waited.


	9. Ruin

Sun was streaking through the windows when a doctor finally approached Byakuya. "Excuse me," he said, "are you Mr. Naegi, here to see a Sayaka Maizono?"

"Huh?" Byakuya, half asleep, started at the sudden sound. "Oh... no. That would be him." He gestured to the figure still passed out on his shoulder.

"Ah." The doctor nodded. "Well, when he wakes up tell him that she's slipped under again. We think she'll be back up within a few days, but –"

"Unacceptable."

The doctor stared. "Son, I don't think you quite understand how this works. We can't bring her back up without risking serious mental trauma."

"Find a way, damn it!" He couldn't explain the frustration suddenly bursting to the surface. "Have you no idea who I am? I am Byakuya Togami, heir apparent to the Togami Corporation, and I am ordering you to safely awaken Sayaka."

The doctor took a step back. "I'm sorry, sir, but there's simply nothing we can do."

It took everything Byakuya had not to stand up and give the doctor a piece of his mind, but Makoto looked so peaceful, and he couldn't bring himself to risk waking him. "Well then," he said curtly. "I suppose someone like you would never understand how helpful it would be to have a Togami in their corner. If only you were willing to try a bit harder... then we might be able to make a deal."

The doctor's eyes narrowed. "Are you bribing me? Well, whatever. I don't care if you're some multimillionaire's son, no amount of money you could throw of us would make what you're asking possible. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some patients to attend to." He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Byakuya speechless with anger.

"I am so much more than my family," Byakuya muttered at the doctor's back, not really caring. What he did care about was what the news would do to the boy leaning against him.

Makoto Naegi woke up in the back of a moving car and panicked instantly. "Hey! Just who are you, anyway?"

"Calm down, you brainless worm. It's only me."

Makoto looked around. He remembered being in the hospital... and then... "Sayaka!" He sat up straight, his gaze demanding. "Where are you taking me? Why aren't we seeing Sayaka?"

Byakuya swallowed. "I'm afraid she slipped back under while we were waiting. According to the self-absorbed prick who informed me of this, there's nothing they can do to bring her back up safely."

"No..." Makoto slumped down, already starting to cry. Then something occurred to him. "Wait... did you carry me out here?"

Byakuya bristled. "It would've been too obnoxious to wake you up, explain the situation, and _then_ try to get your bawling mess of a body into a vehicle. It was simpler this way." The car came to a stop. "Now come on, you need to get inside before Komaru realizes who's dropping her brother off."

He expected Makoto to start sobbing uncontrollably, waking up everyone in his house and getting them chased by Komaru again. Instead, he laughed through a thin veil of tears. "You really carried me all the way out here because you didn't want to wake me, didn't you?"

"Did you not hear me? It was more practical to carry you."

"Then why didn't you wake me when the doctor came up to you in the first place?"

 _Because you looked more at peace than I've seen you in weeks._ "Just get out of the car. You're wasting my time."

Makoto didn't get out of the car, at least not right away. Instead, he leaned forward and hugged Byakuya. "Thank you so much."

"What are you talking about? I've done nothing for you."

He laughed again, shook his head. "When I told you I needed you, you came. When I told you about how it was all my fault you tried to make me feel better. You waited with me for hours, you let me fall asleep on your shoulder, you carried me out to your car... you've done so much, and that's just today. You were there for me when nobody else could be, so thank you."

Byakuya had to hold back a smile. "You really have to stop getting so worked up about such small favors. Like I said, it was nothing."

Makoto leaned back and wiped his eyes. "Well, thanks anyway." He looked at the clock built into the car's dashboard. "Oh, _shit_ , Komaru's going to be up in an hour. I gotta go."

Byakuya felt a pang in his heart. For some reason he didn't want the boy to go just yet. But how would he phrase that? 'Hey Makoto, I want to waste more of my precious time doing absolutely nothing with you of all people.' There was no way.

A few feet away from his house, Makoto stopped, turned around. Byakuya felt his heart skip a beat. "Hey Byakuya," he said cautiously, "where's my bike? Did you leave –"

"No, idiot. It's in the trunk."

"Oh, thanks! Wait, how did you know it was mine?"

"Are you serious? It's the same one you ride to school."

"Oh, yeah." Makoto laughed, embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Well, I'll just get that then, I guess."

As Makoto walked back to the car to collect his bike, Byakuya leaned his head against the steering wheel and tried to calm his nerves. What had he thought Makoto would say? What had he _wanted_ Makoto to say?  
"Are you okay?" Makoto's voice pulled Byakuya out of his thoughts. "You look pretty beat."

"Not all of us had the luxury of a two-hour nap, you know."

Makoto let out another embarrassed laugh. "Sorry. I guess I'm not all that perceptive. Well, see you!" He smiled, a pure, enthusiastic grin, and waved goodbye as he wheeled his bike towards his house. One thought kept running through his mind, a thought that made his heart pound.

_He smiled back at me._

It had only been a second, and Makoto wasn't even sure he'd seen it. But no, sure enough, for one split second, he had seen it. Byakuya, the ice-cold prodigy, the boy who couldn't show compassion or empathy if his life depended on it, had smiled at him.

"Hey, Makoto," Komaru asked a few hours later over breakfast. "What's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why do you look so happy?"

"Nothing. Just..."

"Just what? Come on, bro, talk to me!"

"I think I might be in love."

Despite having dorm rooms at their high school, the students didn't use them very often. Makoto had hid out in his up until a few weeks ago since he couldn't bear to face his family, and Byakuya stayed in his dorm room occasionally when he wanted a break from his. Not the ideal place to find revenge material, but it was as close as Hifumi Yamada was going to get.

Getting into the room had been a cinch. One of Celeste's friends was an expert at lockpicking, and the second Hifumi said he wanted to get back at some of his classmates for humiliating him and a girl he liked, the boy had agreed to break into their rooms.

Makoto's room would be the safer bet. He had seen him forgive Celeste just moments after she had verbally abused him and his boyfriend, and besides, he didn't seem like the type to hold grudges anyway. Byakuya would be the much more dangerous enemy.

But a normal boy like Makoto would have nothing to hide. The son of a wealthy, prestigious family, on the other hand... blackmail potential galore resided there, and that was why Hifumi chose to check Byakuya's room first.

The room was annoyingly clean, nothing incriminating hanging around whatsoever. The desk provided nothing; just a bunch of business documents Hifumi didn't understand. He took a deep breath. He'd thought he wouldn't have to do this, but it was time to go trash digging.

There was just one item in Byakuya's trash can. No bags of chips, no empty soda cans, just a crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded it, and an evil smile spread across his face. "Well, what do we have here..."

Byakuya noticed that his dorm room had been entered the moment he got there.

The signs were obvious, really. Footprints much larger and deeper than his on the carpet; papers on his desk noticeably moved; a single stray potato chip inside the door. Whoever had done this was a sloppy criminal.

He'd let himself panic for a moment, but it didn't look like anything important had been taken. The documents he'd been keeping there for review were all still present, albeit shifted slightly, and the few personal possessions he kept in his room were there and intact. _What the hell? Why would someone break in without take anything? Maybe that third-year Kokichi, but why would he target me in particular? Unless..._

Suddenly panic was coming back to the surface as he rushed over to the trash can. The trash can where he'd thrown away Sayaka's suicide note a few days ago the moment he realized he cared about Makoto. The trash can containing the note he'd meant to incinerate the second he got back from the hospital.

It was empty.

Memories of just a few minutes ago came into sharper focus. Students standing around the bulletin board, talking in hushed whispers. Unusual looks cast at him, some sympathetic, some scornful. And Makoto Naegi, who had texted that he'd be coming to school early after getting a call from Aoi, who'd said he'd meet him at the front gate, nowhere to be found.

He ran out of his room, cursing himself for not burning that damn note sooner, and immediately collided with Hifumi Yamada. "Well, well, well," he said, chuckling even as Byakuya towered over him. "Seems as though Mr. Boylove has gotten his just desserts."

It only took Byakuya a second to realize what that meant. He grabbed Hifumi by the collar, seething. "Listen, you fool. I have no time to deal with you now. Your punishment will come later. Simply tell me where my boyfriend is and get the hell out of my face."

Hifumi snickered, then realized he was choking. "Ack! Okay, I'll tell you, just please don't hurt me!" Byakuya released his grip, and Hifumi leaned over, panting. "Last thing I saw he was running up to the roof, bawling his eyes out like the little queer he is."

_The roof? Why would he OH SHIT_

Shoving Hifumi into the wall, Byakuya raced for the stairs, desperately hoping Makoto was still there.


	10. Empathy

Makoto Naegi stood on the edge of the school roof, silent tears streaming down his face.

A small crowd had gathered below. Even as high up as he was, he could make out a few faces. Aoi, looking as betrayed as she had when he'd talked to her just moments ago. Toko, looking confused and conflicted. Hifumi, looking almost triumphant.

The school building was four stories high. Just one step off the edge, and it would all be over. Sayaka's mistake was that she had gotten caught on a ledge halfway down, but the side of the building Makoto had chosen didn't have any ledges like that. Just one step, and he would get what he deserved.

His parents and Komaru would be devastated, but after they read the note they would understand. They would realize that Makoto had only done what needed to happen. And Byakuya... he didn't know how Byakuya would feel, but he knew he would get over it. He might have opened up a bit since they'd started fake dating, but he was sure that he didn't care about him too much. How could he? This was Byakuya Togami, devoid of compassion, devoid of empathy. The few people who would miss him would be too disgusted by what he'd done to care that much.

But he couldn't do it. He couldn't make himself take that step off the edge. In fact, when an especially strong breeze threatened to knock him off, he actually leaned back to steady himself. Why? What was he waiting for? He knew that even if he deserved to go on living his life would be hell after this. Nobody would forgive him, and he wouldn't blame them for it. He'd consider choosing to live with his actions as his more deserving outcome if it wouldn't mean that everyone around him would continue to be tortured by the monster he'd become.

He closed his eyes. If he closed his eyes he wouldn't have to see the world rushing up to meet him. He could take a step off the edge without thinking about it. Just one step...

"Stop!"

The shock of the voice almost sent him over the edge. He turned around on shaky legs. It was Byakuya, looking like he'd never seen him before. Desperate. Vulnerable.

"Makoto, come down this second. Don't you see that you're just running from what you've done?" he asked, his voice unsteady. "If you're a half-decent human, you'll come down and explain yourself."

The empty pit in Makoto's chest grew. "I guess this just proves how bad of a person I am, huh? Don't worry. You won't have to deal with me anymore after this."

"You don't have to be a bad person!" Byakuya shouted. "You can choose to make things right. It's not too late."

"But I do. Because I am. I'm not strong enough to do the right thing. All I can do is this." He spread his arms out. "Why are you even fighting me on this? It's a good outcome for you. You don't have to pretend to date me anymore. You've already accomplished your goal. Toko has been leaving you alone, and if I die there'll be no need to make sure she doesn't get suspicious. You won't even have to date another guy after me to keep up the act because you can use your grief as an excuse. So why... why do you not want me to jump?"

He was right. Byakuya knew he was right. The best logical option would be to let Makoto fall. After that, everything would be easy. So why did he feel like screaming? Why was his heart breaking in half?

"Makoto..."

Makoto looked at Byakuya and saw that he was starting to cry. _Why? Byakuya doesn't care about anybody. Why is he crying over me?_

"Please..."

That was a word he'd never expected to come out of Byakuya's mouth. He stared. _No way. Does he actually..._

"I need you!"

Tears streamed down Byakuya's face as he continued. "I've never felt this way about anyone before. I've never really cared about anyone before. When I'm with you, I feel so happy. You're the only thing that can make me feel like that. I can't lose that. I can't afford to lose you."

Despite the situation, despite everything, Makoto smiled. "You can find other people. Now that you've opened up to me, it should be easy. You'll sure find people who are a lot less selfish and horrible than me."

Byakuya shook his head. "You don't understand. You... you're special. You're kind and you're caring and you always have a smile on your face and you never let anything get to you. You're the complete opposite of me. You're the best person I've ever met."

"If that's true, then why did I drive a girl to suicide?"

"Makoto, that wasn't your fault! You were only trying to help! She made her own decision!" He wiped his eyes, but the tears didn't stop coming. "You would never do that to anyone. I know because I know you, and... I care about you. I really do."

Both of their hearts were breaking more with every second. "Please," Byakuya begged. "Don't leave me. You're all I have."

"We both know that isn't true. You're freaking rich! You're rich, and handsome, and you've got a good heart. You could have any guy you wanted."

"I know. I know I have more than anyone could ever ask for. But none of that matters. Everything else is replaceable, meaningless. You're... you're the one thing I can't afford to lose."

"Why do you even care about me so much?" Makoto screamed. "Why me? Out of everyone, why me?"

"Because I love you!"

They stared at each other.

"Yes," Byakuya continued, "I love you. You're... you're annoying and you're dull and you're pathetic, and so frustrating... but those are some of the best things about you. You never stop trying to make me seem like a better person than I really am. You thank me for things I don't even realize I'm doing. You're hopelessly optimistic to the point where it drives me insane. Don't you get it? Even the worst parts of you are beautiful, and that's why... that's why I fell in love with you."

They stood, crying silently, looking into each other's eyes. Then Makoto took a step.

He stepped down, onto the solid ground of the school roof.

The moment he touched down he crumpled to the ground, looking completely shaken. Byakuya was by his side in an instant, holding him as tightly as he could. "If you ever scare me like that again," he whispered, "I will destroy you. Do you understand?"

Makoto wiped his eyes, then closed them, and before Byakuya realized what was happening, their lips had connected, and they were kissing, still holding onto each other like it was the end of the world.

When they finally broke away, Makoto was smiling. "I love you too, you stuck-up bastard. I love you with all my heart."


	11. Forgiveness

Byakuya was still crying when school staff arrived on the roof. Thankfully, they weren't paying him any attention. The second they saw Makoto, though, they grabbed him and tried to haul him away.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Byakuya got to his feet and stepped forward, trying to look menacing as he rubbed his eyes. "Release him at once. He's been through enough already."

"No can do, pal," one of them responded. "He's a danger to himself. We've gotta take him away until his mental health has stabilized somewhat."

"Do you have no idea who I am? I am Byakuya Togami, and I am telling you, _let him go._ "

The teacher's look was almost sympathetic. "Sorry. Our hands are tied here. If a student starts exhibiting suicidal behaviors to this extent, we've got no choice but to send him away until he's better."

The tears Byakuya had been trying to suppress came to the surface again. "No! I almost lost him just now. I am not letting the likes of you take him away from me again."

Meanwhile, Makoto's face had gone completely blank. He stared down at nothing, not resisting in the slightest as he was being dragged away. "It's okay, Byakuya..." he murmured. "I deserve it."

"We've been over this!" Byakuya wasn't very strong, but he somehow managed to push the teacher holding him out of the way to grab Makoto by the collar. "Stop blaming yourself, damn it! Stop! You don't deserve any of this!"

Makoto gave him a smile that made his heart break for what felt like the hundredth time in minutes. "Please, Byakuya. Please just let me get what I deserve."

"No... no!" The dam broke, and suddenly he was sobbing, reaching out for Makoto as he was dragged away, knowing that he was making a scene, not caring. "Makoto, come back... come back..."

A security guard hit them on the head, and the two of them dropped to the ground.

Makoto woke up in a hospital to the sound of Byakuya verbally abusing a young nurse just outside his door. "I was just there, damn it! He never jumped, he's completely fine, so just let me talk to him!"

"Sir, we don't know what state he'll be in –"

He smiled, laying back and letting the familiar tone of righteous fury in the heir's voice guide him back to sleep.

"Looks like you've had some crazy times since I saw you, huh?"

His heart stopped. That voice...

He looked over, and lying in the next bed was the girl he had been torn up about for months, the girl who he destroyed. Sayaka Maizono, looking at him. Smiling.

"Sayaka?" He sat up so fast he hit his head on the baseboard of his cot, and Sayaka giggled. "What the... since when..."

Sayaka shifted slightly, and Makoto noticed her wince as she did so. He realized the pain she must be in, how much she must be pushing herself just to look at him. Even so, she kept on laughing. "Looks like you haven't changed too much, huh?" Then her expression grew serious, and Makoto braced himself for it. For the scorn he knew he deserved, for her to beat him over the head with the life he ruined.

"What are you doing here? This is the suicide wing."

Makoto blinked. "Oh... yeah. This is a stupid question, but you're not doing anything in the next few hours, are you? This might take a while."

Sayaka stared at him. "Okay. A lot has happened while I was asleep, apparently. So you're dating Byakuya now?"

Makoto blushed. "I mean, I don't know if he wants to make it a thing – like, a _real_ thing – but I think I do."

"Huh." She lay back, staring up at the ceiling. "Never would've put you two together. You're full of surprises, Makoto."

Then Makoto realized he had never apologized. He sat up, looking at her with concern. "Sayaka, I'm so sorry. I did this to you. You said it yourself, it was my fault you jumped. I can't ask you to forgive me, but..."

"I forgive you."

The words were like a dagger in Makoto's heart. "What?" he whispered. "Why?"

Sayaka smiled sadly. "I... I was working through a lot of stuff when I met you. When you showed me everything I was missing, I realized how fake my life was. If I were stronger I would've talked to somebody about it, or maybe even quit being an idol all together... but I wasn't, and I didn't. I took the easy way out because I wanted a fresh start. Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"Huh?" That was a question Makoto hadn't been expecting. "Uh, I guess I never really thought about it before."

"I do. I think that when we die, we get a second chance. We get to live a different life as a different person. That was what I wanted. And hey, if it didn't work, and reincarnation weren't real..." She shrugged. "I'd still be able to escape. But none of that really matters. You've been blaming yourself, and now the whole school blames you, but it's really not your fault. I promise you, it's not. Aw, don't start crying!"

Makoto, who had been about to start crying, looked over at her. She was still staring at the ceiling. "Wait, how did you – oh yeah, you're psychic. I've got to stop falling for that."

Sayaka giggled. "I wouldn't say you're falling for it. You've just got a very easy-to-read mind."

Byakuya burst into the room. "There you are!" he shouted. "You plebian, do you realize how long you've kept me waiting? This is what I get for falling for a suicidal idiot, I suppose."

He stopped when he saw that Makoto was crying. "Oh, don't be so sensitive," he said, but he was looking away in embarrassment as well. "Although I suppose it was presumptuous of me to assume that you'd be in a perfect mental state after all you've been through."

Then he noticed Sayaka, and his face screwed up in fury. "You... do you have any idea what you've done to this man? You've destroyed his life! Do you realize how much has happened to him since the selfish, foolhardy suicide note you left?"

"Byakuya!" Makoto said, upset. "She's been through a lot too, okay? She's trying to figure herself out. I love you but you need to back off."

Byakuya looked like he wasn't going to let this go, but one look at Makoto's stressed expression, and he just sighed and said, "Fine. I must concede that you can't be blamed for _everything_ that's happened. Now come on, Makoto. You've been discharged."

"Huh?" Makoto looked at his boyfriend in confusion. "Wait, why? I thought I was going to be transferred to a mental hospital or something."

Byakuya smirked. "Don't underestimate the Togami family. What exactly do you take me for?"

Makoto leapt up from his bed and rushed into his arms. "Thank you! You're the best, Byakuya."

"Yes, yes." Byakuya absently wrapped his arms around him. "Now come on. We're about to be late for school."

The smile dropped off Makoto's face. "Wait... what?"


	12. Truth

"We need to get to school," Byakuya repeated. "What, have you actually forgotten what your life consists of?"

"But..." Makoto sunk deeper into Byakuya's arms. "I don't think I can go back. What will we say to everyone?"

Byakuya held Makoto tighter. "Don't worry. No matter what anyone says, we can explain. It'll be alright." He seemed to realize he was being sappy, since immediately after that his face went red and he added, "Which any idiot could figure out."

Makoto giggled. "Oh man, hearing you try to act cold and distant when you're actually super sweet never gets old." His face grew serious again. "But... I can't do it. I don't think I can do it. Because they have every right to hate me."

Byakuya considered this. "Well, you're not wrong. But still. I'm sure we can explain everything."

"How?" Makoto demanded. "We don't have any proof. The whole school knows, and there's nothing we can do to convince them otherwise."

The room fell silent. Nobody seemed to have a response to that. Makoto's heart sank. He was right. His life had been ruined after all.

Then Sayaka spoke up. "You know... I could help with that."

"What?" Makoto shook his head. "No. You've been through enough."

"Oh, Makoto," she sighed. "You're too self-sacrificing. But it really is no trouble. Now that I'm awake, every news outlet in Japan has been clamoring for an interview with me, and I've got one scheduled for a few hours. If you can manage to get the interview on the TVs at school, everyone will be able to see me forgive you."

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Byakuya demanded.

Sayaka sighed. " _Byakuya._ One of the headmaster's students is just now recovering from a coma. You really don't think he would want to reassure the rest of the school that she was alright?"

"He could just announce it," Byakuya countered. "There's no guarantee he'll play the broadcast."

Sayaka smiled. "True... but, not to brag, I'm kind of a big deal. And we barely do anything at school anyway, so it's not like it'll be cutting into class time.

He thought about it for a moment. "Okay," he said grimly. "But I'm warning the both of you, it won't be easy."

"That was depressingly easy," Byakuya said to Makoto as they walked out of the headmaster's office.

"Yeah, I gotta agree with you," Makoto said. "Like, I'm glad and all, but it's still kind of disappointing."

"Right?? I was expecting some kind of challenge, and I was met with, 'anything for the esteemed heir to the Togami Corporation'. Having such a prestigious family truly is a burden."

Makoto punched him in the arm. "What was that for?" Byakuya demanded.

"You were being stuck-up. From now on I've decided that's how I'll call you out on it."

"Leave it to a commoner to instantly resort to violence," Byakuya muttered. Even so, Makoto thought he could see a hint of a smile tugging at Byakuya's mouth. He was glad he'd been able to lighten the mood, because inside he felt like he was dying. Every passing look in the hallway made his heart hurt. Even his teachers were giving him the cold shoulder.

Byakuya seemed to notice Makoto tense up, because he put a hand on his arm. "Oh, relax, will you? In a few hours, everything is going to go back to normal."

"Yeah..." Makoto thought back to the last few months, how he had gone from living a dull, empty existence to having everything compromised to finding love to his life being destroyed once and for all. "Normal."

The next few hours seemed to go by in slow motion. The hostility of the entire school was a thousand-ton weight on Makoto's soul. Even with Byakuya by his side, he felt like he was drowning. If he had been alone there would've been no way he could take it.

Once he made eye contact with Aoi. She gave him a sympathetic half-smile before seeming to remember what he'd done and looking away. That alone was enough to make him wonder if he'd made the right decision coming down from the roof. He started crying twice, and by the time the interview was scheduled to happen, Makoto was a nervous wreck. The second he got out of class, he doubled over and started hyperventilating.

"Hey." Byakuya crouched down to meet Makoto's eyes. "It's going to be fine. You know that. Just a few more minutes now."

Makoto shook his head. "What if they don't believe her? What if they think I threatened her or something? What if they still hate me?"

Byakuya hesitated for a moment, then took Makoto's hand. "I highly doubt anything like that will happen, but on the off chance that it does... I will be by your side no matter what."

The smaller boy looked into Byakuya's eyes, and the pure sincerity he saw almost made him start crying again. "I'm so glad you're here with me," he whispered, gripping Byakuya's hand hard enough to make his knuckles white.

Byakuya cleared his throat. "True. I honestly don't know how you managed to make it through life before we started dating. You're a walking disaster."

Makoto laughed. "And you're only a little bit less of an asshole than when we first met."

His boyfriend was about to retort when the monitors lining the hallways flared to life. They stood up, still holding hands. "Here we go," he murmured.

Sayaka was on the screen, looking beautiful despite not wearing makeup, despite being in a wheelchair, despite everything. Even after getting her forgiveness, it hurt Makoto's heart to see her like this. Someone shoved a microphone into her face.

"Ms. Maizono! How long are you going to be like this?"

Plastering the perfect fake smile that Makoto knew so well onto her face, she responded. "Probably the rest of my life. But it's okay! In a way I'm glad. Being an idol was so much pressure, you know?"

"Come on, come on," Byakuya muttered, strengthening his grip on Makoto's hand.

"Ms. Maizono, Ms. Maizono!" another reporter shouted. "Do you regret anything?"

Sayaka looked away. "Of course I do. I was working through so many things, and there were a thousand better ways this could've gone. I'm not bitter, exactly, but... I do wish things could've turned out differently." She fidgeted, and Makoto knew she was as anxious to get to the important part as they were.

"Ms. Maizono, why did you do it?" There it was. The moment of truth.

She looked directly into the camera, and for a horrible moment Makoto thought she would pin the blame all on him, that she would take back every kind thing she had ever said to him. Then she spoke, and his stomach dropped.

"I was influenced by my best friend and my boyfriend at the time, Makoto Naegi."

In an instant, she was bombarded by questions from reporters. "Will you let me finish?" she shouted.

The room went silent. "Thank you," she continued, sounding embarrassed. "My suicide note hasn't been made public yet, but it seems that everyone at my school already knows that I pinned the blame all on Makoto. It's true that the things he said to me influenced my decision to jump, and it's true that had it not been for him I would still be living my life as normal."

Makoto fell to his knees. Byakuya stood there, speechless. She had done it. The conniving snake had done it. She had ruined Makoto's life once and for all.

"However," she said, "that doesn't mean that any of this is his fault."

A spark of hope reignited in their hearts as Sayaka went on. "He didn't have any malicious intent at all. Nothing he said was actually _trying_ to get me to jump. He just showed me everything that I could do if I wasn't an idol. He wanted me to get a chance to live like a normal high school girl, if only for a day or two. He did all this because he cared about me, and he wanted me to live to the fullest. But I was stupid. When I realized everything I was missing, I knew how fake my life was, and I decided to end it all. To get a fresh start, in a way. Do you understand? I may not have jumped if it hadn't been for Makoto Naegi, but none of this is his fault!" Her voice rose. "He tried to help me, because he's kind and caring and the most well-meaning boy I've ever met!"

"Okay, Ms. Maizono, why don't you calm down?" someone asked uncertainly. "No one is leveling any accusations against Mr. Naegi. It's fine."

In that moment Sayaka seemed to realize that no one other than the entire population of their school blamed Makoto. "Oh, yeah." She let out an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry. I just know a lot of people at my school are blaming him for everything, and I wanted to make it clear that none of this was his fault."

The interview continued for what could've been five minutes or two hours. Makoto and Byakuya didn't know. The instant she had finished addressing that all-important question, they had collapsed into each other's arms. "She said it," Makoto said, sobbing. "She really said it."

Byakuya wiped his eyes. "You should really quit crying every time something moderately emotional happens." But he didn't let go of Makoto, and when the next bell rang, they didn't move. They just stood there, holding each other for what felt like an eternity.

Then the monitors turned off, and it was over.

They looked at each other, feeling shaken. "So," Makoto said. "What now?"


	13. Epilogue

Makoto Naegi looked in a mirror, adjusted his tie, and turned to the girl laying in the hospital bed next to him. "Do I look okay, Sayaka?"

Sayaka smiled at him. "You look perfect. Although I'm not sure why you're making such a big deal about this..."

"Are you serious? This is Byakuya's and my first real date! No way am I phoning it in!"

The girl giggled. "Oh yeah, I forgot! You only started real-dating recently, right?"

It hadn't been a question for them if they were going to start actually dating, but when. They were both nervous, though, and when Byakuya approached Makoto awkwardly after class and asked him to come to this fancy upscale restaurant Makoto had never heard of with him, Makoto was over the moon with excitement. That had been two days ago, and Byakuya was due to pick him up in a few minutes. The hospital had proved to be a good rendezvous point for them, and besides, Makoto had wanted to update Sayaka on everything that had happened since he last saw her.

"Yeah," Makoto said, frowning as he straightened his tie for the tenth time since he'd arrived. "We... we really like each other." He turned to her, smiling. "I can't believe things turned out this good."

Well, not everything had turned out perfectly, Makoto reflected. Most of his classmates had believed Sayaka's interview and were back on speaking terms with him. Aoi was almost ready to move past it, and the rest of his homeroom class was more than ready to act like it had never happened.

Except for Hifumi and Celeste, that was.

Celeste, at least, had cooled down a bit, since the main target of this whole situation was Makoto and she had no need to dethrone him from his social standing. Still, every chance she got she would rub it into Byakuya's face that his boyfriend had almost ended up killing a girl. Hifumi, on the other hand...

"Still showing your face around here, I see, Mr. Naegi," he would sneer whenever the two of them walked into the classroom. "And Mr. Togami, too. How shameful. At this point I'm frankly shocked that you haven't dropped out in shame yet."

Usually Mondo or Sakura would shut him up, but that didn't make his insults hurt any less, even if they did come from an overweight otaku with no life outside his Princess Piggles cartoons, and Makoto had started crying in class multiple times.

"Aww, don't cry," Aoi would always say, patting his shoulder. "I don't see how that guy hasn't gotten expelled at this point. Just you wait. Sakura and me are gonna take this to the headmaster first chance we get."

Unfortunately, Aoi didn't exactly have the best track record with Hifumi, who had called out her feelings for Sakura multiple times in the past, and even with Sakura and Mondo backing her up, the headmaster claimed that there was nothing that could be done unless he personally witnessed Hifumi verbally abusing the couple. That hadn't exactly gone over well with Aoi or Mondo, who had needed to be physically dragged back to class by a much cooler-headed Sakura.

"One day, Makoto," Aoi muttered, fuming. "One day we're gonna get that bastard."

But all that didn't matter too much to Makoto anymore. What mattered was that his friends had forgiven him, and Byakuya was by his side. No matter what, Byakuya was by his side.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy at least," Sayaka said with a sad smile as Makoto recounted all this to her. "I can't believe how much you've had to go through because of me..."

"Don't worry about it!" Makoto returned her smile. "If all this hadn't happened, Byakuya and I never would've started going out."

"Yeah..." Her smile was looking more pained by the second, and Makoto realized something suddenly. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.

"Wait... are you okay with all of this?"

Sayaka looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Makoto swallowed. "Before all this happened, you and I were kind of... an item. And then, while you were in a coma, I started going out with someone else. I never thought of that before. Sayaka, I'm so sorry."

Her smile might've been forced, but the happiness in her eyes was genuine. "No, it's fine. I don't really deserve you after what I put you through. And besides, you're way happier now, right?"

"That's not –"

"It doesn't matter." Sayaka cut him off, still looking at him with that sad smile. "If you're happy, I'm happy. Because I'm your assistant, right?"

Makoto laughed. "Yeah. I forgot about that. Well, as long as you're okay with this... I guess it's fine."

"Hey." Sayaka put a hand on his arm. "I'm really happy for you, you know? Don't you forget it. And don't apologize to me again, either, you got that?"

Makoto, who had been about to apologize, stared at her. Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, you're psychic. I keep forgetting."

"Right!"

The two of them laughed for a little while. It felt good to just forget about all the insanity that had happened in the past month or so. To pretend that they were a couple of normal high schoolers again – well, as normal as you can be when one of you is a world-famous pop star.

Then Byakuya opened the door, and Makoto ran into his arms. "Oof! No need for such overwhelming displays of affection. We've been over this!"

Makoto pulled back, looking at Byakuya in awe. "You look..."

"As I always do," he finished. "You, on the other hand, look, well... absolutely beautiful. For someone of such a lowly status, that is," he added hurriedly.

Makoto blushed. It was true he had gotten dressed up for the occasion, and this was probably as good of a compliment as he was going to get out of Byakuya. "Well, I wouldn't go _that_ far. And you look pretty great too, you know?"

"No need for flattery. Must I remind you that we're dating now?"

He smiled. "I'm giving you a _compliment,_ silly. It's what a good boyfriend does. Now come on!" He grabbed Byakuya's hand and practically dragged him out of the room. "We're gonna be late!"

Sayaka watched them leave. A single tear that she'd been fighting since Makoto had shown up at her room slipped down her cheek. And she smiled. Because no matter how much she loved Makoto, if he was happy, she was happy. She had meant that from the bottom of her heart.

She lay back, listening to Makoto and Byakuya retreating down the hall, Byakuya protesting that Makoto was running too fast, and closed her eyes.

She was happy. Makoto was happy. And Byakuya, for one of the first times in his life, was happy.

What more could she have asked for?


End file.
